Yesterday turned in to a great day.  It was overcast and dull again but there was the promise of some brightness during the day.   I drove out to the edge of the Everglades to a place called Holiday Park which is the home of the satellite TV program Gator Boys. Visitors come to launch their small fishing boats here and there are airboat rides.  It has a gift shop and a small cafe and even though its quite commercial its a good place to see some unique habitat and a great  place to catch sight of wild alligators and lots of birds. My bird list was quite impressive with a couple of dozen species, most I had seen many times before but I did photograph a lifer, a Chipping Sparrow.

I wandered very slowly along a raised path – see above – which passed right through the swamp on both sides.  Every few yards I would see birds and I dawdled along taking about 2 hours to cover just a few hundred yards.  It really was a magical walk with some incredible photo opportunities.  The photos below are pretty much in the order that I took them.

Double-crested Cormorant. I am always really taken by the colour of th eye of cormorants and this species is no exception.

A female Boat Tailed Grackle.  This is a very common species here with their noisy cackles a constant backdrop to the everglades.  Males have a long tail and an iridescent dark plumage which shows bluish and mauve.

Loggerhead Shrike.  The common shrike species here which is often encountered and not difficult to find.

American Goldfinch.  One of a small flock.  Related to Siskins that we are familiar with in the UK and to me, they look very similar.

Chipping Sparrow.  This was a first for me, I have visited Florida on at least 20 occasions and yet I have never seen this species before which is, apparently very common here in the winter.  I am sure it was just a question of "right place at the right time".

Palm Warbler.  There are two races of this species here in the winter, one Eastern and one Western. The Western race has a much more chestnut coloured head. Always common and can be found flitting from tree to tree and quite often feeding on the ground.

Ahninga. I very common bird in the everglades.  This one was drying it's feathers after fishing.

Northern Cardinal. Female.

Northern Cardinal male.  This is such a distinctive, beautiful and striking bird that you would think it was impossible to miss but it always amazes that they can disappear in to the undergrowth quite easily and then be hard to see.

Not only are they beautiful and striking, they sing a very attractive song.

The Northern Mockingbird is Florida's state bird.  They are very territorial and found in all kind of habitats, by the coast, in gardens and parks as well as the wilderness of the everglades.  They are omnivorous feeding on seeds, berries and insects which probably explains why they are so successful.  They are also great songsters not only singing their own pretty song which is magnificent but they also, as the name suggests, very good impersonators. This is a great bird, lively and active with a very alert demeanour and they always look in good condition.

This is an Eastern Phoebe a small flycatcher.  I was trying very hard to photograph this one in flight but the weather just wasn't bright enough for success but suddenly it flew from its perch to fly high to catch this damselfly which it didn't have any problem swallowing whole.

Finally as I made my way back to the parking area a bird of prey glided past me silently.  I watched it all the way on to a perch in a low bush and managed some great photos before it flew off down the track to perch again about 30 yards away.  This gave me the chance to see its lovely striped tail.  I checked my Sibley's electronic Field Guide and immediately I was able to name it as a Red-shouldered Hawk a member of the buteo family of 28 species in the Buzzard family of birds of prey.